Coke-oven door



mm., w49. J. VAN ACKEREN 2373315 comm/EN Doos Y Filed Jun@ l, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Jasp VHN 24cm/REN J. VAN ACIKEREN COKE-OVEN DOOR 5 sheets-sneek 2 Filed June l, 1944 l s ,erro/afweer Patented ma. i@

fr earner eeeiee 3 iaims. (Si. 2024-248) The present intention relates to colse-oven doors and more especially to cohe-oven doors of the self-sealing type having a iieiiible sealing edge of metal extending around their entire periphery.

|lhe coke-oven doors employed for closing the ends oi the coking chambers of horizontal colse ovens comprise at least two component parts of major importance; i. e. a rigid metallic outer member and a heavy inner plug-member that is formed of such refractory material as clay, silica, or the like, and which when the coito-oven door is in operating position in a colsing-chamber mouth is adjacent the heated coal or cotte. In the case of self-sealing doors for colte ovens, there is furnished each in addition to the two aforesaid members a exible metallic sealing edge that forms an integral part of the coke-oven door and is located intermediate the two afore-rJ said members and has a peripheral dimension greater than that of the refractory plug-member and is formed as a metallic strip which 'extends entirely around the oven-doors periphery and has its free edge turned at an angle to the major surface of said metallic strip in the direction of the refractory plug member oi the assembled door.

An object of the present invention is the provision of improvements for assembling the aforesaid metallic outer member, the self-sealing member, and the refractory plug-member of a coke-oven door into a door-unit exhibiting improved resistance to distortion and heat-deformation and in consequence improved service for the stated purpose over longer periods of use.

A further object of invention is to provide simple and effective improvements whereby the three aforesaid component parts of a coke-oven door can be assembled into a rugged door-unit wherein they are retainable in accurate alignment and rmly supported against relative horizontal movement while at the same time they are each free vertically to expand or contract independently of each other, as demanded by the different thermal conditions to which they are subjected during coke-oven operation, without giving rise to dlstortional strain or stress the one upon the other.

A further object of invention is to provide, for coke-oven doors having self-sealing edges formed of metal, resilient adjusting means for said sealing edges whereby their contacts with their cooperating door-frames can be made non-rigid and yieldable, so that in operating position in the coking-chamber mouths their assumption of ac- 2 curate conformation with existing or changing irregularities of the adjacent door-frames is automatically assured.

The invention has for further objects auch other improvements and suchV other operative ad vantages or results as may he found to obtain inthe processes or apparatus hereinafter dee scribed or claimed.

According to the present improvement, a eolie oven door Ais constructed around a sa-called clamping sheet that serves jointly to support the aforesaid rugged metallic outer member of the door, its plug-portion of refractory material, the self-sealing member, as well as the doors other usual features, accessories, `and auxiliary equip ment, such as the hatching-bars, thelevellerdoor, and the lilie.I ln the present improved design oi coke-oven door, the rst three of the above-mentioned members oi the door are bolted directly to the clamping sheet only at one section of the door, preferably the upper part there of, whereas along the remaining door-portions said members are only indirectly bolted to said clamping sheet; that is, the metallic outer member, the self-sealing member, and the refractory plug-member of the novel coke-oven door are throughout the majority of their length supported in the door assembly by spaced cleat-like bars that are themselves directly bolted in xed position in respect of the clamping sheet. Thus throughout the majority of their lengths the three aforesaid members of the coke-oven door assembly are merely pressed against the clamping sheet by said cleat-like bars 4and since vin consequence of such arrangement there are lacking xed points of contact between said sheet and said members either individually or severally, they are all free to move vertically in respect of each other in accordance with any demands of differential expansion or contractions to which they can be subjected during operation o! their associated coke ovens and are free to do so without their distortion or development of mal-alignment therebetween.

The present improvement in coke-oven doors also includes improvements in those adjusting means that are distributed around the periphery of each door and are employed to cause the metallic self-sealing y, member to conform to the contour of the machined sealing-surface of the co-acting door-frame, that surrounds the mouth of each c'oking-chamber of a coke-oven battery, despite continuous minor changing of its contour brought about by its continuous heating by the adjacent coking chamber. Heretofore, these said self-sealing-member adjusting means have been arranged to bear against said member in relatively rigid, inexible contact and little change in the deflection of the sealing member at any point of contact could take place without manual readjustment of said adjusting means. This has been quite disadvantageous because the contour of the sealing-edge of the self-sealing member and that of the co-acting door-frame do not remain constant for any protracted period or even during the charging and coking and pushing of a single coke-oven charge. For example, there is a rapid cooling and rapid heating respectively of the self-sealing edge and the door-frame during the coke-pushing period and with return of an oven door to the coking-chamber mouth, the opposite respective result takes place. Obviously, a rigidly static adjustment of the contour of the sealing edge is an impediment to the obtaining of a well-sealed oven chamber throughout an entire coking period.

The sealing-edge adjusting means provided by the instant improvement is arranged to apply a limitedly-resilient pressure to the sealing edge so that when therewith equipped coke-oven doors are in sealed and latched position in the coking chambers, all portions of each sealing edge still have opportunity for a minor degree of independent breathing-like movement for localized alteration in their contours in order that they can accommodate themselves to any minor local changes in the contour of the associated doorframe that continuously take place even during a single coking cycle. The specific form of the novel sealing-edge adjusting means shown in the drawings comprises, in brief, a cylindrical housing having an opening at both ends and adapted to be supported by the metallic outermember of the door and containing a plungerlike member arranged to reciprocate through the opening of said housing adjacent that end therevof whereby the housing is supported by the oven door and having a beveled, headed portion that is larger than the shaft of said plunger and is formed to engage a correspondingly shaped seat located at the inner end of the housing-opening for the plunger-member. Within said housing is confined a spiral spring co-axially disposed in respect of said plunger and arranged to exert variable pressure on the beveled head thereof by means of a threaded adjusting-screw disposed in a similarly threaded bushing supported in the housing at its end opposite said plunger member. By virtue of this improved sealing-edge adjusting means the pressure that is set up by the latch-bars between the door-frame and any portion of the sealing-edge cannot exceed the pressure of the spiral spring on that plunger-member which bears against such said portion of the sealing-edge thereadjacent, otherwise the plunger will move toward and into its housing and reduce the pressure, and it thus becomes substantially impossible permanently to distort any one portion of the sealing-edge while trying to bring another portion thereof into sealing-contact with the door frame.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and showing for purposes of exemplication a preferred apparatus and method in which the invention may be embodied and practiced but without limiting the claimed invention specically to such illustrative instance or instances,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a pusher-side coke-oven door embodying features of the present invention, said door being in operating position at the end of a coking chamber of a horizontal coke oven;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken through the leveller door of the coke-oven door shown in Fig. 1, said section being taken along the line III-III of said Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1 through the upper latch-bar mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken through one of the sealing-edge adjusting means provided by the present invention and showing its internal construction;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a fraction of Fig. 2 and showing more clearly the disposition of novel features adjacent the lower part of the coke-oven door illustrated in said gure; and

Fig. '7 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along the line VII-VII of the coke-oven door of Fig. 1 and showing clearly the novel method for assembling the several features thereof into the presently improved coke-oven door.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in each of the views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings: in the several above drawings, the coke-oven door of the present improvement is shown in operating position in the coking-chamber mouth at one end of the coking chambers I0 of a conventional battery of horizontal coke ovens. In such batteries the coking chambers I0 are formed by spaced heating walls Il formed of masonry, said heating walls extending from side to side of said battery and containing a plurality of heating flues I2 wherein gaseous combustion media are burned with air and thereby evolved heat is absorbed by the heating-wall masonry and is transmitted to the coal in the adjacent coking chambers at coking temperatures. Along both faces of a horizontal cokeoven battery, heating walls and coking chambers are disposed in alternation. The masonry of the fiued heating walls II are supported at each end by vertically disposed buckstays I3, there being located between the inner flange of each buckstay and the jamb bricks I4 at the end of each heating wall, flash-plates I5 that protect the jamb bricks and distribute the pressure of the buckstays over a larger surface thereof. At each end of each coking chamber IU of the battery, the opening or mouth of each coking chamber is provided with a massive cast-iron door frame I6 that extends entirely around said coking-chamber mouth and is in general L-shaped in horizontal section. The door frame is contained in a shallow recess in the jamb-bricks, as clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 7, any interspace between the door frame and the jamb structure being filled with fibrous refractory packing, preferably asbestos, or the like, to assure against leakage of air into, or distillation gases from, the coking chambers at these points. The doorframe is supported in its said recess by means of bored lugs or bosses, I'l, that are provided at spaced intervals along the outer surface of the door frame, and of threaded bolts I8 that are passed through said bores and screwed into correspondingly threaded holes in flash-plates I5, thereby forcing the door-frame lugs into pressure-contact with the buckstay-supported flash plates. A machined surface I9 of a door-frame I6 functions as asealing surface that co-functions with the metallic sealing-edge of a cokeoven door to seal the associated mouth of its cohing chamber from the atmosphere. Amxed to the upper and lower portion of each door frame and at both sides thereof is a latch-hook 2t, a pair of said latch-hooks being disposed to engage a latch-bar of a coke-oven door and thereby support the same in a coking-chamber mouth.

The upper horizontally-extending section of door frame it is furnished at its outside face with rectangular, horizontally disposed rib 2i wnerefrom the coke-oven door of invention depende, when it is placed in operating position in the editing-chamber mouth, by means of a hookmember 2i! 4that extends inwardly and upwardly beyond the main body of the oven door. The lower horizontally extending section of the door frame is furnished at its median point with a short vertically disposed rib 22 that co-acts with a groove 23 at the bottom edge of the oven door to facilitate maintaining the same in alignment with the heating walls of its associated coking chamber during the doors removal from and return to operating position in the coking-chamber mouth.

As hereinbefore discussed, the coke-oven door 25 provided by the present invention has such essential features thereof as the outer metallic member or door-back, as well as the self-sealing member, and its inner plug-section of refractory material all assembled into a door-unit in a new and novel manner permitting said features each vertically to expand and contract independently of each other while said features are at the same time also secured against horizontal or lateral displacement in respect of each other. In the illustrated coke-oven door, a clamping sheet 26, as is more clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, forms the basic structural feature of said door in that all other features thereof are either directly or indirectly supported thereby. This clamping sheet 26 extends from top to bottom and from side to side of the main body of a door of invention that is designed for use at the battery coke-side; in the oase of the pusher-side door, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a suciently large opening is furnished at the upper part of said clamping sheet to permit passage therethrough of the leveller bar employed for levelling the top of the coal charge in coking chamber l0.

The outer metallic member or door-back 21, comprises a metallic frame-like casting that extends entirely around the door, the central portion of said casting being open thereby to give access to the clamping sheet that is located between the frame-like casting and the refractory plug in the assembled door-unit. The verticallydisposed sections of the member 21 are provided with heavy outwardly-projecting strengtheningribs 28 that diminish in their surface area as they approach the upper and lower parts of the member 21. On the pusher-side door the two vertical sides -of said member 21 are joined 'together by means of an L-shaped transverse portion 29 of the door-back casting whereon the lower part of the leveller-door frame 30 is supported by bolts 3 I.

In horizontal cross-section, the sides of the massive door-back 21 are each in general T-shaped with the lower part of said letter disposed at a right angle to clamping sheet 26 and forming the door's strengthening-ribs 28, aforesaid, whereas the upper part of said letter is disposed in parallelism with the clamping sheet with that portion 32 of said letters upper part that dennes the central opening of the door-back, somewhat offset fromthe remainder thereof, as is clearly visible in Fig. 7. This said onset portion 32 is that portion of the door back whereby it is mounted on the clamping sheet.

At the upper part of the coke-oven door and immediately above and just below the opening therein for levelling the top of the coal-charge, the said offset portions 32 of door-back 2l are bolted directly to the clamping sheet 26 by means of bolts 33 of which the heads are counter-sunk into the clamping sheet, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the said bolts passing through bores in the offset portion 32. The remainder of the door frame is only indirectly secured on the clamping sheet; that is. by means of cleat-like bars 3d, as shown in Fig. 7, that are themselves bolted directly to the clamping sheet. The said cleat-like bars are greater in length than the distance between adjacent edges of offset portions 32 of the doorframe and are provided with a pair of bores through which extend bolts 35 that have their heads counter-sunk in the clamping sheet. Nuts St serve to draw the bars 3ft merely into pressurecontact with the door-frame which in turnis forced into pressure-contact with the clamping sheet. Thus, in consequence of the above-described arrangement, door-frame 21 in effect merely depends from fixed points at the upper portion of the clamping sheet and along the majority of its length it is still capable of expanding or contracting in vertical movement independently of the clamping sheet and the thereto-afixed cleat-like bars, but is fixed against horizontal or significant mis-aligning lateral movement.

The refractory plug-portion of the coke-oven door comprises a metallic support for the refractory material, the former extending substantially from the top to the bottom of the latter but being divided into three separate sections 31 each comprising a horizontal basal support 38 that is integral with a pair of spaced sidewalls 39. Spaced bands of metal join side-Walls 39 at the back of each section of the metallic support. The side-walls 39 have short expansionA slits cutting their edges nearest the hot coking chambers and are so formed as in horizontal section to resemble a section through an acute angle-iron, the longer leg 'of which serves to key the refractory material into each supporting section 3.1 whereas the upper part of the shorter leg as well as the upper of the joining-bands 40 are employed to affix each said metallic section 31 independently to the clamping sheet, one above the other. by means of bolts 42 having counter-sunk heads in the clamping sheet as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower and major portion of each section 31 is secured on the clamping sheet in a fashion similar to that described in connection with the lower portion of the door-back 21; that is, as is clearly apparent by reference to Fig. 7, cleat-like bars 43 provided with counter-sunk bolts 44 are bolted directly to the clamping sheet by nuts 45 thereby pressing the said-shorter leg of the acute-angled side walls 39 of metallic plug-support 31 merely into pressure-contact with the clamping sheet, the cleatlike bars and the bolts 44 functioning to bar both horizontal and lateral movement of the plug-supports within the assembled door but leaving them free for vertical expansion or contraction in respect of the clamping sheet, and manifestly also of the door-back 21. The employed refractory material 46 which comprises the major weight of plug-portion of the oven door is formed into the individual supporting sections and rests on between the said refractory material, its sidewalls, and the clamping sheet are filled with yieldable, fire-resistant packing 4l, which will not interfere with relative movements between said members 26, 39, 43, and 48 during expansions or contractions thereof. Y

The exibie sealing member 4a with its integral sealing-edge 49 that co-acts with sealing-surface i9 of door-frame i6 to seal the adjacent end of a coking chamber l is formed by cutting a channel iron along its lengthwise dimension and welding sections thereof together to form a ring or framelike member similar to the practice described in van Ackeren U. S. 2,338,675, issued January 4,

threaded adjusting-screw 60 that is rotatable in the internal threads of bushing 55 and can be locked at a given adjustment of compression of spring 59 by means of lock-nut 6|.

1944. In the instant coke-oven door, however, it

is bolted to clamping plate 26 only by those bolts d2 that are adjacent the upper part of the oven door and ailix the metallic supports 31 for the refractory material to the clamping plate in the region around the leveller-door. The said sealing member thus merely hangs or depends in the assembled door from the upper part of the clamping plate and throughout the majority of its length it is only held in pressure-contact with the clamping sheet by the pressure of the side-walls 39 of the metallic supports for the refractory plugsection which is in turn created by the pressure of cleat-like members 43 against said side-walls acting through bolts and co-acting nuts 44 and d5, which are aiilxed to the clamping sheet; this arrangement is easily visible in Figs. 2, 3, and '1. In the assembled oven door, therefore, the sealing member is free vertically to expand and contract throughout the majority of its length entirely independently of the other parts of the oven door inasmuch as at no point therealong is it penetrated by the bolts 44. A layer of graphited packing 50 between the clamping sheet and both the sealing member and the metal of the refractory supports lubricates any vertical movement of the sealing member in its expansion and contraction.

As hereinbefore. discussed, the sides of the massive door-back 2'! are in horizontal section in general T-shaped and an offset portion 32 of the upper part of said letter is employed` to secure the door-back on the clamping sheet. The remainder of the upper portion of said letter T extends around the periphery of the door beyond the plug-section thereof and is substantially coextensive with the sealing member and has its outer edge formed at spaced intervals into semicircular projections I that are penetrated by a threaded bore 52 into which are threaded the resilient adjusting means 53 of the present invention for the self-sealing member.

The said resilient adjusting means 53 comprises a housing 54 having an opening at each end thereof, one end of the housing being provided with external threads whereby it is supportable in a said threaded bore 52 of the door back. The opposite end of said housing is internally threaded to receive an internally and externally threaded bushing 55. A plunger 56 extends through that said opening of the housing which is adjacent the means whereby the latter is supported by the door-back (see Fig. 5) and the plunger is free to slide backwardly and forwardly in said opening but is restricted in its oven-ward movement by plunger-seat 51 which is formed to receive and arrest the bevelled plunger-head 58. Spiral spring 59 furnishes the plunger with resiliency of movement, said spring being confined in the housing member between the plunger-head and A multiplicity of these sealing-member adjusting-means 4are disposed around the periphery of the oven door and by regulation of the degree of compression of spring 59 by means of adjusting screw 60 the plunger can be adjusted to provide any required pressure on that portion of the sealing member or its sealing-edge that is directly beneath, to flex it, or conversely the plunger can be similarly adjusted to resist any pressure of the sealing-edge i9 against sealing surface i9 of the door-frame that is below a predetermined value. Thus, by means of this novel adjusting means it is easily possible to apply around the entire door and to any given section of the sealing-member sumcient pressure to force it to conform with the profile of said sealing-surface i9 despite deviations thereof from a straight-line course and it is also advantageously possible for those sections of the sealing-edge that first move into sealing contact with said sealing-surface i9,

as the oven door is adjusted into sealed position a in the coking-chamber mouth. by pressure of the latching mechanism thereagainst, to yield, without deformation, with such increase of pressure against the door as is required to bring other sections of the sealing-edge into sealing-contact with said sealing-surface. Moreover, the springpressure of the novel adjusting-means forces the sealing-edge of the sealing-member, upon extraction ofthe oven door from the coking chamber, immediately to resume its normal straight contour around the entire oven-doors periphery and the door is thus immediately, and without any readjustment of the adjusting-means, feasible to be used in another coking chamber of the battery having a door-frame contour that difrers from the first one, or to be returned to the first coking chamber and again sealed along a portion of the sealing-surface i9 that is somewhat removed from the former lines of sealing contact and where the sealing-surface contour can be somewhat different than in the case of the prior sealing of the same coking chamber.

Adjustable stop-studs 62 are provided at the four corners of the oven door (Figs. 1 and 6) they serve to limit the travel of the door into the coking-chamber mouth and to prevent application of suiiicient pressure to the sealing-member permanently to distort it. The effective length of stopstuds 62 is adjustable by means of their external threads which are rotatable in a threaded bore of the door-back. Lock-nut, 63 maintains the stop-stud at a given adjustment.

By means of the above-described design and construction, the flexible sealing members of coke-oven doors are provided with complete freedom of vertical expansion and contraction, and' the sealing edges of the sealing-members can, in a horizontal direction, freely move toward and away from the sealing-surface of the door frame,

within a limited zone and under resilient pressure, sufliciently to maintain sealing contact with said surface, regardless of changing contour of the sealing-member or sealing surface over a prof of the sealing-member adjusting means.

The latchin'g mechanism tt is amxed to section tt adjacent both the upper and lower part of metallic door-back 2i by means of latch-bar plate tb and bolts et the heads 4of which are counter-sunk into the door-back. Latch-bars tl are rotatably mounted on the latch-bar plate by means oi threaded shaft 'it that is supported in a similarly threaded opening in said plate. Rotation of shaft tt moves the latch bars horizontally away from or in the direction of the face of the oven door and respectively into or out of pressure-engagement with a pair of latch-hooks 2li.

Pressure oi the latch-bars on the latch hooks moves or holds the sealing-edge til in contact with sealing-surface it. IThe outer end of square shait tt is bevelled to facilitate its engagement bv means for its rotation.

Door-hooi; td for grasping the oven door thereby to remove it from and return it to a colring chamber is also amxed to section 32 of the door-back frame by means of bolts 'it in a .ia-Shinn similar to that described for the latch bars.

d face-plate li in Fig. 2 forms the outer surface oi the oven door; it is supported by screws in threaded holes of those small bosses l2 that are formed along the side of ribs it of the doorback.

On the pusher-side door shown in the ngures, frame til of the leveller door i3 is mounted on door-back 227i by means of bolts 3l The levellerdoor is arranged for opening and closing on latch-bar it therefor which is rotatably mounted on the bracket 'l5 that is formed integrally with the leveller-door frame. Inclined plate T6 thatv extends inwardly from the inner surface of the leveller-door is arranged to collect products of condensation that form on said doors inner surface and to deliver them onto the hot refractory of the door-plug at a point inwardly that is remote from the seat of the leveller door with its supporting frame, thereby obivating their accumulation and leakage onto the outer surface of the door through the leveller-door seat.

The invention as hereinabove set forth is embodied in particular form and manner but may be variously embodied within the scope'of the claims hereinafter made.

I claim:

i. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising, in combination, a clamping sheet, an inner plugmember formed in part of refractory material, a exible sealing member comprising a flexible' metallic plate-portion terminating in an inwardly projecting sealing-surface engaging sealing means, a rugged outer metallic member, means for xedly securing to said clamping sheet at one section thereof the other aforesaid members with the flexible metallic plate-portion disposed at a region intermediate the inner plugmember and the rugged outer metallic member, the securing means for the outer metallic member being separate from the securing means for thi` flexible sealing member and the plug-portion, and other means at another section of said clamping sheet that is arranged for non-fixedly securing onto the latter the remainder of said other aforesaid members in a manner allowing them relative vertical movement, the said other securing means for the outer metallic member being separate from the said other securing means for the flexible sealing member and the plug-member, the said other aforesaid members being so disposed relative to said clamping sheet as to be rmly secured thereon, solidly each against another, by said other securing means, against bodily movement of the clamping sheet and of each of the other aforesaid members relative to each other, and all as a rigid unitary whole, while permitting their independent inI dividually-variable linear expansion and contraction relative to each other.

2. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising, in combination, a clamping sheet, an inner plugmember formed in part of refractory material, a exible sealing member, a rugged outer metallic member, means for iixedly securing to said clamping sheet at one section thereof the other aforesaid members, the securing means for the outer metallic member being separate from the securing means for the flexible sealing member and the plug-portion, and other means at another section of said clamping sheet that is arranged solely compressively to secure onto the latter the remainder said other aforesaid members, the said other aforesaid members being so disposed relative to said clamping sheet as to be firmly secured thereon against relative bodily movement, solidly one against the other, and all as a rigid unitary whole, by said solely compressively acting other means, While permitting the independent individually-variable linear expension and contraction of the clamping sheet and of each of said other aforesaid members relative to each other.

3. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising, in combination, a clamping sheet, an inner plugmember formed in part of refractory material, a flexible sealing member, a rugged outer metallic member, means for xedly securing a section of the inner plugmember and the outer metallic member individually to opposite sides of said clamping sheet, and other means comprising cleat-like arrangements disposed compressively to secure the remaining another section of each of said members onto said clamping sheet in a portion of the coke-oven door permitting said members relative vertical movement in respect of each other and of the clamping sheet, said cleat-like arrangements being themselves fixedly secured to said clamping sheet the said remaining section of each of the aforesaid members being so disposed relative to each other, when secured in the coke-oven door by said other means, as to be rmly secured, solidily each against another, against bodily movement relative to each other, and all as a rigid unitary whole, while permitting their independent individually-variable linear expansion and contraction relative to each other.

4. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising, in combination: an inner plug-member; ,a flexible sealing member extending around the periphery of said door; a rugged outer metallic member arranged outwardly from said sealing member; for said sealing member, a plurality of resilient adjusting means that are disposed around the periphery of said outer metallic member and are arranged for exerting resilient pressure on said sealing member; and also disposed around the periphery of said door a plurality of means that are arranged in position to engage the doorframe, that surrounds the mouth of an associated coking chamber, and thereby limit the travel of the door toward the door-frame after said exible sealing member has entered into sealing contact with'said door-frame but before the linut of resiliency of said sealing member and its resilient adjusting means is exceeded, thereby to obviate permanent distortion of both the latter during the placing of said coke-oven door in sealed position in the coking chamber.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, and in Y which the aforedescribed means for limiting the travel of the door toward the door-frame comprise rigid stud-like bosses.

6. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising: a rigid outer metallic member, a heavy inner plug-member comprising metallic refractoryliner supports, and an intermediate flexible sealing-member comprising a plate-like portion having an inwardly extending sealing edge, a clamping sheet extending from top to bottom and from side to side of the main body of the door and adapted to support the aforesaid members as well as auxiliaries for the door, said rigid outer metallic member comprising an outwardly extending rigidifying frame-like section disposed around the outer-side of said clamping sheet and seated substantially throughout its longitudinal extent against the outerside of the clamping sheet, and said inner plug-member and said sealing member being likewise seated solidly throughout their longitudinal extent against the inner-side of the clamping sheet with the plate-like portion of the sealing member interposed between the refractory-door-liner supports and the clamping sheet, and clamping means for securing said members .solidly to said clamping sheet, against bodily movement o the clamping sheet and of each of the other aforesaid members, relative to each other, and all as a rigid unitary whole, while permitting their independent individually-variable linear expansion and contraction relative to each other as unitary individual entities in the door as a whole.

'1. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising: a rigid outer metallic member, a heavy inner plug-member comprising metallic refractoryliner supports, and an intermediate flexible metallic sealing-member comprising a plate-like body portion having an inwardly extending sealing edge, a clamping sheet extending from top to bottom and from side to side of the main body of the door and adapted to support the aforesaid members as well as auxiliaries for the door,

said rigid outer metallic member comprising an outwardly extending rigidifying frame-like sec- ,tion disposed around the outside of said clamping sheet and seated substantially throughout its longitudinal extent solidly against the outerside of the clamping sheet, and said inner plugmember and said sealing member being likewise seated solidly throughout their longitudinal extent against the clamping sheet, with the inner plug-member on the innerside of the clamping sheet, and with the plate-like portion of the sealing member interposed and thereby clamped between the clamping sheet and one of the two members comprising said rigid outer metallic member and the inner plug-member, and clamping means for securing said members solidly to said clamping sheet, against bodily movement of the clamping sheet and of each of the other aforesaid members relative to each other, and all as a-rigid unitary whole, while permitting their independent individually-variable linear expansion and contraction relative to each other as unitary individual entities in the door.

8. A self-sealing coke-oven door comprising: a rigid outer metallic member, a heavy inner plug-member comprising metallic refractoryliner supports, an intermediate exible metallic sealing-member comprising a plate-like body portion having an inwardly extending marginal sealing edge, all extending substantially from top to bottom and from side to side of the main body of the door with a clearance for the plug-member for insertion as a plug into the mouth of a coking chamber door-way, said rigid outer metallic member comprising an outwardly extending rigidifying frame-like section disposed around the outerside of the door, and all three of said members being seated substantially throughout their longitudinal extent solidly each against another thereof, with the plate-like body portion of the sealing member interposed between the reractory-liner supports and the outer rigid member, and clamping means for securing said members solidly seated each against the other and against bodily movement of each of the aforesaid members relative to each other, and all as a rigid unitary whole, while permitting their independent individually-variable linear expansion and contraction relative to each other as unitary entities in the door as an all rigid unitary whole.

JOSEPH vAN ACKEREN.

REFERENCES GITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,131,829 Wilputte Oct. 4, 1938 2,207,562 Van Ackeren July 9, 1940 2,338,675 Van Ackeren Jan. 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 563,287 Germany Nov. 3, 1932 595,231 Germany yApr. 7, 1934 

